USS Intrepid (1798)
![]() A copy of an engraving of the destruction of the fire ship Intrepid
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History | |
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Name | USS Intrepid |
Cost | $1,800 purchased |
Launched | 1798 |
Acquired | by capture, 23 December 1803 |
Fate | Destroyed in action, 4 September 1804 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Bomb ketch, used as an Explosion ship |
Tonnage | 64 |
Length | 60 ft (18 m) |
Beam | 12 ft (3.7 m) |
Propulsion | Sail |
Complement | 70 officers and enlisted |
Armament | 4 guns |
The first USS Intrepid was a captured ketch in the United States Navy during the First Barbary War.
Intrepid was built in France in 1798 for Napoleon's Egyptian expedition. The vessel was sold to Tripoli, which she served as Mastico. The bomb ketch was one of several Tripolitan vessels which captured Philadelphia on 31 October 1803 after the American frigate had run fast aground on uncharted Kaliusa reef some five miles (8 km) east of Tripoli.[1]
Capture
USS Enterprise, a schooner with Lt. Stephen Decatur in command, captured Mastico on 23 December 1803 as it was sailing from Tripoli to Constantinople under Turkish colors and without passports. After a time-consuming search for a translator, the ketch's papers and the testimony of an English ship master who had been in Tripoli to witness her role in operations against Philadelphia convinced the commander of the American squadron, Commodore Edward Preble, that Mastico was a legitimate prize. He took her into the U.S. Navy and renamed her Intrepid.[1]
Destruction of USS Philadelphia
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/Burning_of_the_uss_philadelphia.jpg/220px-Burning_of_the_uss_philadelphia.jpg)
by Edward Moran (1897)
Intrepid depicted in foreground
Meanwhile, Philadelphia lay in
Intrepid and Syren set sail 2 February and arrived off Tripoli five days later. However, bad weather delayed the operation until 16 February. That evening Syren took station outside the harbor and launched her boats to stand by for rescue work. At 7 o'clock Intrepid entered the harbor and 2½ hours later was alongside Philadelphia. When hailed, they claimed to be traders who had lost their anchor in the late gale, and begged permission to make fast to the frigate till morning. Guards suddenly noticed the ketch still had her anchors and gave the alarm.
When Lord Nelson, then blockading Toulon, heard of Intrepid's feat, he is said to have called it "the most bold and daring act of the age".[3]
Intrepid returned to
Fire ship
A week later she began to be fitted out as a "floating volcano" and was to be sent into the harbor and blown up in the midst of the corsair fleet close under the walls of Tripoli. The vessel was loaded with 100 barrels of powder and 150 fixed shells, the fuses leading to the explosives were calculated to burn for 15 minutes. Carpenters of every ship were pressed into service and she was ready on 1 September, but unfavorable weather delayed the operation until 4 September. That day, Lieutenant
Two of the fastest rowing vessels were chosen to assist in the mission and return the volunteers from the mission. At eight o'clock on 4 September Intrepid got underway with Argus, Vixen, and Nautilus serving as escorts up to the point by the rocks near the harbor's entrance, remaining there to watch and pick up the returning rowing boats and return the crew from their mission.[7] As Intrepid approached the enemy fleet they were discovered and fired upon by carronades from the overlooking shore batteries. At 8:30 before Intrepid could get to its final position it exploded, lighting up the entire scene and sending the hull, yards and rigging and exploding shells in all directions, killing all on board. The anxious crews of the awaiting squadron were shaken by the concussion of the great explosion but at this time could not determine the exact fate of the mission. They remained there the entire night with the hope that the rowing vessels would return with the volunteers, but by morning their hopes turned to despair when the light of day finally revealed what had happened. Commodore Preble later concluded that an attempt was made by intercepting boarding vessels, and that Somers decided to destroy the vessel, himself, and his crew to avoid capture and enslavement, but there was no way of knowing the exact events which resulted in the explosion.[8][9]
Aftermath
The remains of the 13 sailors on the ship washed ashore the next day after the explosion and were dragged through the street by angry locals.[
See also
Bibliography
- MacKenzie, Alexander Slidell (1846). Life of Stephen Decatur: a commodore in the Navy of the United States. C. C. Little and J. Brown, 1846 – Biography & Autobiography. pp. 443. Url
- Waldo, Samuel Putnam (1821). The life and character of Stephen Decatur.
P. B. Goodsell, Hartford, Conn., 1821. Url - Dept U.S.Navy. "Ships Histories Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships".
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
Department of the Navy – Naval Historical Center. Retrieved 1 November 2011. - Colimore, Edward (25 October 2011). "Effort under way to bring back U.S. sailors buried in Libya". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
[E]ight of the 13 sailors [are] interred beneath Green Square in Tripoli .... Nearby are the graves of five more, ... at a tiny, walled cemetery that overlooks the harbor.
References
- ^ a b U.S.Navy, DANFS, Intrepid, page article
- ^ Jackman, William J. (1911). History of the American Nation. Chicago: Western Press Association. p. 694.
- USNI News, United States Naval Institute, 5 February 2013, setting forth the evidence for and against that quote.
- ^ MacKenzie, 1846 pp. 64–74
- ^ MacKenzie, 1846 p. 114
- ^ "Colimore (2011), page article
- ^ Waldo, 1821 pp. 100–101
- ^ MacKenzie, 1846 pp. 114–117
- ^ Waldo, 1821 pp. 135–136
- ^ "USN Ships--USS Spokane (CL-120, later CLAA-120) -- Miscellaneous Views".
- ^ Cloud, David S., "Wreath Laid For Sailors Killed in 1804", Los Angeles Times, 18 December 2011, p. 7.
Further reading
- London, Joshua E., Victory in Tripoli: How America's War with the Barbary Pirates Established the U.S. Navy and Shaped a Nation New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2005.
External links
- Photo gallery at Naval Historical Center
- Unidentified US Navy Sailors at Find a Grave at the Old Protestant Cemetery in Tripoli